Westside Reader August 2015

August 2015 Westside Reader • 33
Westside People
PRofile: saRa and todd tisdell
Castaic family opens craft brewery
By Michele E. Buttelman
Features and Entertainment Editor
It was a gift of coincidence that found Castaic resident Todd
Tisdell, and his brother-in-law Geoff Pocock, developing a
taste for making craft brew.
Tisdell gifted Pocock with a craft beer making kit for Christmas
and Tisdell’s mother-in-law gave him the same gift.
“She thought it was something that Geoff and I could do together,”
he said.
The serendipity of that Christmas gift has led Castaic residents
Sara and Todd Tisdell and Geoff Pocock and Lauren
Cook to join forces to open the Santa Clarita Valley’s second
craft beer tasting room.
Located on Avenue Tibbetts in the Valencia Industrial Center,
Pocock Brewing Company is still a month away from opening.
Holiday Light Tour winners
The Tisdells are receiving a lot of attention in the SCV for
their brewing efforts, but the couple is not unfamiliar with the
limelight.
Their previous obsession, an “over-the-top” holiday light
display in the front yard of their Hasley Canyon home, earned
them the grand prize in 2008 and 2011 local holiday light tour
contests, as well as “must see” recommendations from hundreds
of SCV residents.
The brewery project, however, found the Tisdells unable to
command the time and effort to mount their annual light display
last holiday season, to the disappointment of many families
who made the trek out to their Castaic home.
“Last year we had a lot of disappointed people drive up the
street,” said Todd Tisdell. “They would drive up, turn off their
lights, wait 45 seconds, turn their lights back on and drive
away. I am so sorry. I had such guilt about it.”
Sara Tisdell echoed her husband’s feelings.
“It was so sad, so heartbreaking for us, but it is a huge time
comittment, and so is this,” she said. “We couldn’t do both.”
Todd Tisdell said it is unlikely that the mammoth and intricate
lighting display will return this year, either.
“Here it is almost September and we still need to get the
brewery up and running and the Christmas lights need to be
started in October,” he said. “So I don’t think it will happen this
year, maybe next year.”
Sara and Todd Tisdell
The Tisdells were married at the Queen Mary in 1999 and
moved to Castaic in 2005.
Todd Tisdell was raised in Anaheim and Yorba Linda and
Sara Tisdell grew up in Riverside.
The couple met in 1996 in a film production class at Chap-
It’s a family affair for Pocock Brewing Company. From top, left to right,
Spencer Tisdell, Emma Tisdell, Lauren Cook, Geoff Pocock and Sara and
Todd Tisdell.
man College. They have two children, Emma, 11, and Spencer,
8. The children attend Live Oak Elementary School.
After Tisdell received his Masters degree in producing from
Chapman, he went to work in the entertainment business.
At one time he worked simultaneously on four shows in the
“docutainment” genre. In the summer of 2001 all four shows
ended their runs and he waited for a new batch of shows to
spin up in the fall.
However, after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, “docutainment”
production shifted to news and he turned to a real estate
career.
“I had been doing some real estate investing so I got my real
estate license and opened up Citrus Grove Real Estate and
Lending,” he said. “There’s two ‘mes,’ there is one that likes to
build and make things, that’s the guy who loves to do the
Christmas lights and why I was in the TV business, then there’s
the me that is this serial entrepreneur.”
Tisdell said he has always been self-employed.
“Real estate is satisfying, but in a different way than having
a project,” he said. “Christmas lights gave me a project and so
has craft beer.”
Loving Castaic
“We moved out here in 2005 from West Hills,” said Sara Tisdell.
“We moved out here for the kids. We wanted to be in a
place where they could have space, have the good schools and
the community.”
The Tisdells looked at property in Sand Canyon, but decided
they preferred the less dense community of Halsey Canyon.
“We moved out here right before Emma turned 1,” said Sara
Tisdell, a stay-at-home mom. “We fell in love with the community.”
Sara Tisdell said Castaic residents have been very supportive
of the brewery project.
“Castaic is a very close knit community,” she said. “Once we
started talking about doing the brewery we’ve received a huge
amount of support from the community of Castaic. Everybody
wants to know how it is going, they ask, ‘What can we do to
help?’ Can we come over and help paint?’ ‘Can we do anything?’
It’s just a genuine desire to help each other out, which
is appealing.”
Pocock Brewery
“We’re a big team,” said Sara Tisdell. “Pocock is my maiden
name.”
She comes by her interest in craft beer honestly. Her grandparents
ran the British Volunteer pub, in Ashford, Kent, England
for decades.
Todd Tisdell said one of Pocock’s beers (an English bitter) is
named British Volunteer, in honor of the pub.
“My brother (Geoff Pocock) and I were raised on English
beers, that is what we were exposed to first and we developed
an appreciation for English beer,” said Sara Tisdell.
Todd Tisdell and Pocock are the primary beer “chefs” at
Pocock Brewing Company, but Sara Tisdell said she also
throws in her ideas from time to time.
“Geoff and I have been home brewing for a long time,” Todd
Tisdell said. “At first we used the recipes in the kits, then we
started inventing our own recipes and sometimes they were
good, and sometimes not so good.”
The beer brewing soon moved from hobby to passion.
“Two to three years ago our friends told us we should sell
this beer. They told us ‘this beer is good enough to sell.’ But
they are friends and you don’t really believe friends when they
tell you that kind of thing.”
But Pocock and Tisdell soon took their beer “on the road” to
corporate parties, weddings and other events.
After pouring their beer for strangers they discovered that
the beer received the same response it had from friends.
“It was mid-2013 when we decided to go down this road
and then we were brewing every weekend,” he said. “Now it’s
grown to this (the Pocock Brewing Company tasting room).”
What appeals to Todd Tisdell is that brewing is “an interesting
blend of cooking and science.”
“I have one of those brains that like to do both left and right
brain (activities),” he said. “Brewing beer satisfies both sides of
my brain.”
Craft beer
“Geoff and I are the brewers, we create the recipes,” said
Todd Tisdell. “And we don’t just make one kind of beer. We are
the driving force behind the flavors and we have a variety of
beers.”
Tisdell describes being a craft brewer as more “chef” than
“mass producer.”
“We are constantly playing with recipes and tweaking things
here and there,” he said.
Currently Pocock Brewing Company has developed a few
“staples” including the British Volunteer (an English bitter),
an American pale ale, called First 13 and a beer called Nuptials,
which is a mango pale ale.
“That’s a very popular beer that we made for a wedding,” he
said. “Lots of people like that one.”
Also offered will be two IPAs, a single and double IPA, a West
Coast Red, a chocolate stout and an imperial stout.
“Our vibe here is going to be really casual and mellow, a
‘come in, hang out, taste some beer,’ kind of place,” said Tisdell.
“This is beer for people who like beer, not beer to get
drunk. This is beer for people who want one or two interesting
tastes for the evening.”
After the tasting room opens Tisdell is planning on inviting
food trucks to hang out on the weekends.
“The tasting room is not a huge space,” he said. “But we want
Todd Tisdell, and his brother-in-law Geoff Pocock, test a batch of beer in
the middle of the brewing process to determine if the beer is developing
properly. See Profile:Tisdells, page 36